Hi guys. I figured I'd better start here and introduce myself before getting too into things. I was invited here by Dekka, who I know in person.

Technically I only own one dog, Zorro a beagle x dachshund. Zorro is an old man at 13, a bit grumpy, a lot lazy, and definitely on the pudgy side... He's never been easy to keep in good weight, and in his old(er) age I've decided to let him live as he chooses that way. He's happy and healthy and that's what matters. We've had Zorro since we adopted him from a Dachshund rescue when he was 1.5 years old (as was my son).

Zorro and my kids sharing the dog bed.

In addition to Zorro, I have my foster dog, Elwood. Rescued from a high kill shelter in North Carolina, Elwood has lived with me since October. He was actually adopted for about two weeks but sadly the adopter ran in to some troubles and couldn't keep him (no fault of his own). I was actually Elwood's second foster up here, he was so afraid at the first that he wouldn't even tell them he needed to go out and would soil himself in his bed to avoid contact with the male caregiver. He has clearly been abused, and it has taken him a long time to trust again, but he's come a very long ways.

Elwood shortly after arriving here. He had to be on a line in our yard as he couldn't trust enough to let anyone catch him without it. He was so afraid, as you can see in his posture and body language.

Now that Elwood is home again, I will be working on training him. He's doing great on basic household stuff, but he has no recall or "real" training. I'm at a loss on how as I grew up with more "old school" methods, and Elwood needs a strong positive reinforcement method. Fortunately Dekka has offered to help me learn I am half tempted to adopt Elwood, but if I do I can't foster again... so who knows what will happen. I'm still rooting for the perfect home to come around for him.

Much more relaxed after having settled in for about a month. Sad to say, but Elwood didn't even know how to play when he came - scared himself half to death the first time he went into a play bow.

In addition to dogs, my house is practically a zoo. We have: Midna, an indoor cat; Alice and Dinah, mother and daughter bunnies (a fun story there); Lola, a chinchilla; Flower, a cockatiel; Margarita and Monty, a pair of milk snakes; Tango, a bearded dragon; White, Black, Stubby, Toothbrush, and Shiney - 5 geckoes; and several fish (my son's - I don't remember all their names).

Outside the house we have several horses (plus Dekka's three live here at the moment), and several farm cats. Sadly we have a lot less cats than we used to as last summer we lost about 10 cats to either coyotes, or (more likely) a fisher

In addition to the dogs at my house, my mom and I co-own Irish Wolfhounds. Yes, we are breeders (see my post in the breeding section if you feel like discussing that side of things) but very small time. At the moment there is my senior bitch, Renee, my junior bitch, Cleo, and the cripple, Java. They all live in the big farm house with my mom (unlike my tiny little bungalow there is reasonable room for Wolfies).

Renee hanging out at a show.

So, that's me. My horse experience greatly outweighs my dog experience, but I am willing to learn. I'm slowly getting more into the dog world (though I've owned dogs all my life), so I look forward to getting to know people on here.